Thursday, January 31, 2008

spinning yarns that were so lyrical

i had three to four posts in my head all day but was so swamped at work i didn't get to post and it's 7:47 p.m. and this is the first time i haven't been occupied since i got home.

we're trying at the last minute to plan something for my mom's birthday this weekend. she turns 60. my youngest nephew's birthday is the same day. my sister is having his birthday at my parent's house (since she lives there about 1/2 the time anyway i guess) and later we'll have a surprise dinner for my mom. it's the best we could muster the enthusiasm for. sad i know but that's life. you reap what you sow. i did have to laugh talking w/ the sil tonight though. she said she had a hard time finding a birthday card that was just plain, like happy birthday. i thought i was the only one that did that! it's not like i'd buy a card that read, thank you for being such a great mom, such a great role model and friend or some other maudlin crap like that. don't get me wrong, i love those types of cards (and the hubs always gets me tear jerker cards) but i can't bring myself to buy a card like that for my parents cos it would be incredibly phoney.

i also had to laugh, though i'm sure it's not really funny, when my sil told me that during my nephew's tae kwon do practice he received his first kick in the balls. she said you could just see the look of pained confusion spread across his face. i'm sorry, it makes me laugh. ; )

in this planning for mom's birthday i called my aunt and uncle to invite them. she is my dad's sister and they live in the area too. every time after i talk to either of them i think, wow, i really like them, why don't we spend more time together? this is odd because growing up i pretty much didn't like them much at all. of course they were typically drunk all the time. my aunt has been sober for more than 15 years now i think and they really are cool people. anyway, we talked for like an hour or more. she feels pretty much the same way i do about my parents. her views are based on the fact that although my parents live two miles from my grandma she and my uncle shoulder more of the caretaking. that's true. she said they are two of the most self-absorbed people she's ever met. then she apologized and i laughed and said she was preaching to the choir.

then we talked about health stuff--i got the lowdown on some family history in regards to my cataracts. both of my grandparents had cataracts as did my dad. my aunt and my grandma have macular degeneration. she also told me more about our heritage. my grandpa was a mix between native american and dutch and grandma is irish and french. interesting.

she's a pediatric nurse so i also got the lowdown on guardasil and that monongialcoccal shot you see advertised on tv. i know some parents are anti immunizations and certain medications but she cleared up some questions i had and though the hubs and i will discuss and i'll talk to our pediatrician, i think the girl should get both when i take her for her 11 year old check up. (donut, she also gave me the name of a good pediatrician that's near you, so remind me to tell you.)

i really enjoyed talking with her and now feel pretty guilty cos i made fun of that fugly watch she gave me for christmas.

in other news--the girl is a knitting machine (hence the spinning yarns title). i'll have to take some pictures and post them this weekend cos she's getting really good at making scarves. she's sold a few to her counselors at daycare.

this post is getting really long (you probably stopped reading like four paragraphs ago) but i have more.

aside from being really swamped at work this week, i've had to get my picture taken. i would have to say, getting my picture taken is probably one of the things i hate most in the world. though it has taken me 39 years to realize this, i now know why i hate it. you see, when you look in the mirror every day you see your reflection not the "real" you. your hair may be poufy on one side in the mirror but that's not the side it's really poufy on. (if you're still reading you're probably thinking---wtf is she talking about and is she high? sadly, no). anyway, i have a vision of how i look and i've come to like it i suppose. in the last year i've come to terms with the physical side of me, and though i do not love the way i look, i do not hate it like i used to. anyway, when i see a picture of myself i see how other people see me and i see all of the imperfections.

for example, the pictures taken this week show me that the color of my hair should probably be lighter, i'm still seeing brown. obviously there's the weight thing but i'm not even going there right now. i am also incredibly pale, hello--any blood in there cos i look like a freaking corpse. and this is the kicker---though i thought the bras i've been wearing are good (i.e. no seams, comfy, you can tell i have two breasts etc.) apparently they are not as supportive as they should be. i swear in some of the pictures it was like my breasts were lazy eyes, one going one way one out in left field. WTF???? granted i know that after two kids and gravity etc. they are not going to be firm and perky, i'm not an idiot, but really? can't they just get together and be friends for one picture?

it sounds like i'm being a diva about these pictures and i think i might have frustrated donut with my nitpicking about them, but all of the reasons above are why i hate having my picture taken. that and the fact that when you have your picture taken it means someone is focusing on you and, in the case of this picture, that people other than my family will see it.

if you hung in this long give yourself a pat on the back : )

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